How To: Toast Coconut

I have had a serious love affair with coconut lately.

This for me is a big step.  

Not the love affair with food part, but the coconut part.

You see, coconut has never been a favorite of mine, unless it was in Pina Coladas or suntan lotion, that is.

Recently I made this Coconut Cream Poke Cake, and it's topped with this amazing 

Coconut Cream Cheese Whipped Cream Frosting, and when I taste tested the frosting, 

I knew that I was hooked.  

Since then, I have been making many many coconut treats.

(you can search the word coconut here to find them all)

Many recipes called for Toasted Coconut, and as I was toasting some today for an upcoming post, I thought maybe I would do a post on the how to do it.

I mean at some point in our life, we didn't know how, right?

There are about 2 cups of sweetened coconut here.

There are two ways to go about this, you can either toast it in the oven or on the stove top, which is the way I typically do it.

How To: Toast Coconut

Ingredients:

shredded or flaked  sweetened coconut

On the Stove top:

Sprinkle your coconut into a frying pan and spread it out. Over medium heat, brown your coconut, stirring regularly so as not to burn it.

It toasts quickly, usually only takes about 5 minutes.  When it is golden brown it's done.

In the oven:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Sprinkle your coconut onto a cookie sheet. 

Bake for 5-10 minutes, stirring every 3 minutes or so to evenly brown.  

Make sure you watch it, once it begins to brown it happens very quickly!

I think that is why I prefer to do mine on the stove top, I am right there stirring it, I am not as likely to walk away from it.

Sweetened coconut will brown much faster.  If you have unsweetened coconut on hand, you can sweeten it by tossing the coconut with powdered sugar.  

( 2 Tablespoons sugar to about 1# of coconut)

Seal left over in an air tight container and store in the pantry for about a month, or freeze for up to one year.

Tasty served over ice cream! 

Copy Cat - Cracker Barrel Hash Brown Casserole (with BACON!)

Copy Cat - Cracker Barrel Hash Brown Casserole (with BACON!)

I needed something to go with my Ham and Polish Sausage and Sauerkraut I made for Easter dinner this past weekend.  I wanted to do something different.

I made this recipe a LONG time ago, based on my friend, Candi's recommendation.

Candi knows food, she hosts her own food blog called The Devilish Dish.

The last time I made it, I forgot to take a picture.

I ran across the recipe again while looking through potato recipe ideas.

It was good from what I remembered, not that I could compare it to anything?

I have never even been in the door of a Cracker Barrel.

I can't stand preparing for a big meal when my pantry isn't organized.  So the week before Easter, I gave it a good cleaning/organizing.

Why do children leave empty boxes in the pantry?

One of life's great mysteries I guess.

While I was gathering the ingredients to throw the casserole together Easter morning, I was in my well-organized pantry, and saw the bacon on the shelf.  I decided bacon could only make a good thing better.

Copy Cat - Cracker Barrel Hash Brown Casserole 

(with BACON!)

adapted from: food.com

2 pounds frozen shredded hash browns

1 stick butter, melted

1 - 10.25 ounce can cream of chicken soup

3 cups sour cream

2 Tablespoons dried chopped onion (or 1/2 cup fresh)

2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1 - 3 ounce jar real bacon pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and prepare a deep 9x13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large bowl combine all of the ingredients.

Pour into baking dish and bake for 45-50 minutes.

Will be slightly brown on top.

Enjoy!

Why Be Blue....When you can Be RED

I love giving gifts to people I care about.

Nothing make me more excited than when I find the perfect gift, or come up with something well suited for a friend or loved one.

My friend, Lori,  turned 50 this past January, and we hosted a dinner party for her, here at our house.

Lori with her Coconut Cream Poke Cake that I made for her birthday cake.

While I was Christmas shipping I had found the wine glass that I included, it's an "XL" Size, and holds a whole bottle of wine.

I bought it to give to her sometime as a little "funny."  Lori is a bit of a wine connoisseur.

She is especially found of reds.

Well, I had it, and one day while trying to decide what to do for her birthday gift, the whole thing just came together.

Turning 50 is hard for many.  Lori, of course, took it in stride.

Literally.

She ran the half marathon with her daughter, Maisie, pictured here, as well as her husband and a couple of her friends.

They decided what better way to celebrate not only her 50th birthday, but her being cancer free for 12 years!

Lori always has a fantastic outlook on life.

That, among a million other things, makes being around her so enjoyable.

Let's just say, she's easy to love.

So, I made a play on words, using her love of red wine, and her positive outlook on life, and this gift basket was born.

I found a cool woven red basket, stuffed it full of red paper, and included the giant wine glass, a bottle of Apothic RED wine, a RED pomegranate candle, some nail polish, RED of course, and a little RED package of Lindor chocolate truffles (chocolate and red wine...Mmmmm.) and a little sign you see pictured here.

"I rescued some wine, it was trapped in a bottle"

I made the tag to go on it, on my computer and mounted it on scrapbook paper.

You will find the printable at the bottom of this post.

So, the next time you go celebrate a milestone birthday, give them something they will use, and give them a positive outlook on life.

Because, really, 

Why be BLUE on your 50th Birthday when you can be RED?

Printable for you

DIY Pedicure at Home - Listerine Foot Soak - Callus Remover

Seriously?

Who thinks of this stuff?

I mean who sits around thinking "I wonder what would happen if I put banana on my face? 

Would it work like botox?"   

i.e.: Banana Botox Mask

Or "what if I soak my feet in Listerine? -- will they not only be minty fresh, but callus free?"

I'm not sure who thinks of it, but I am here to tell you that when it works?

AWESOME!!

I am the queen of going barefoot.

I go from Ugg boots to barefoot, and vice versa.

If I'm not in my running shoes, that's me.

I am not going to gross you about with foot talk, though, because honestly, feet totally gross me out.

I mean, even my kids'.

Once they get past that cute little kissable baby foot, and start running around and getting sticky, they can kinda just keep them to themselves.

It took me a whole lot of years to even go get a pedicure somewhere, because the thought of someone wanting to TOUCH my feet? gross.

Now, I got over that, and I do love to get pedicures, but I'm not crazy about the expense.

I reserve it for a treat a couple of times a year.

So, in between, I do my own, because I HATE to not have my toenails polished.

When I ran across countless posts of foot scrubs, I thought I would give this one a whirl over the winter.

And by golly, it works!

(you'll have to trust me on this though, and try it for yourself, because I am so not putting a photo of my feet on the world wide web. again, gross.)

Listerine Foot Soak (Callus Remover)

1/2 cup Listerine (I used blue but any will work)

1/2 cup white vinegar

1 cup warm water

Combine ingredients in a shallow pan or basin. Soak your feet for 15 minutes.

With a brush or pumice rub the dead skin right off. I usually just hop in the shower for this part.

The blue Listerine will turn your feet blue, but it comes right off in the shower while you're removing skin.

Apply lotion.

Voila!

It REALLY works great.

Banana Botox

How To: Freeze & Use Ripe Bananas

It seems I am always buying bananas.

I think my husband and youngest son are part monkey.

There is one thing about bananas though... 

they have a small window of time they are considered 

"perfect" in our house.

Buy them green: too hard

Green to slightly yellow: still a little to firm

Almost all yellow (but NO brown spots!): PERFECT!! Eat! Eat! EAT!!

Next day: still okay, but better eat them quick!

Brown spots appearing: they sit on the counter until I use them, or freeze them.

I used to put them in a zip top bag, now I just put them directly in the freezer!

When you want to put a banana in a smoothie, or in your bread you have a hankerin' for, they are right there, perfectly ripe, and perfectly ready.

Using in a smoothie is even easier, peel and throw it in the blender frozen.

For bread, they defrost rather quickly sitting on your counter.

You can slice it down the side with a knife, or just cut the end off and squeeze it out like soft serve ice cream!

Don't throw away those 'naners!! 

Put them to good use!!

Valentine - U Rock

When we were making my kiddos' homemade Valentines this year, my son, Hayden loved the idea of using Pop Rocks and the "U Rock" idea.

I needed to buy a lot of Pop Rocks, though, so I got on Amazon to see what they had.

(Amazon seriously has EVERYTHING!!)

When I saw these bubble gum ones, we were sold!!

I placed an order and in a couple of days, they were on my porch!

I took a picture of Hayden dressed in his red skinny jeans and sup cool hoodie, holding my oldest daughter's electric guitar.

In picmonkey, my photo editing site I use, I chose the daguerreotype frame setting to make the picture look funky-rock ish...

chose some cool fonts and sent it off to be printed at Walgreens.

An hour later, we were sticking Pop Rocks to the back of each picture with double sided tape.

Valentine's Made!! 

Here are some of the other Valentine's we have made in the past:

Homemade Valentine's Steal my Heart

Won't CHEW be my Valentine?

We LOVE Valentine's Day around here!!

Well, let's be honest, I kind of cram it down their throats, so they have succumbed to my LOVE of the day!

I love it... what's not to love?

Chocolates and flowers and MAIL!! 

I love getting "fun" mail.

The last three years, I have had fun with my two youngest making homemade Valentines.

This is Josie's Valentine she handed out to her friends.

I took a photo of her, standing in her room by a piece of her art work, palm up, blowing a bubble.

In picmonkey, a photo editing site, I turned it black and white then brought the color back in a few spaces.

I used double sided tape to stick a piece of double bubble in her hand.

Valentine's made!

Here is a link to other Valentine's we have done in the past:

Homemade Valentine's Steal my Heart

How To: Froth your own milk at home

How often do you find yourself warming up with something from your local coffee shop?

I love warm beverages anytime, but especially when it's as FRIGID as this winter has been.

But those lattes can hurt your budget "a latte!"

I actually have a capuchino maker stashed up in my pantry, that has a milk steamer, and I do get it down from time to time, but I will let you in on a little secret about me, I hate having clutter on my counter!

Drives me CRAZY.

I love coffee and tea lattes, and this works SO DARN GOOD!

Especially when you want one in a hurry!!

How To: Froth Milk at Home

What you need

Jar with a lid

Milk, your choice

Place desired amount of milk in jar leaving at least half of jar empty, for room to froth.

Place the lid on the jar and SHAKE!!

I shook mine for about 30 seconds or so.

Remove lid and heat in the microwave.

I started at 30 seconds, but added a little more time, because I like my beverages HOT.

Watch it, though, because it will GROW!

(I need to add a picture of this!! -- my kids were giggling like crazy!)

With a spoon, hold the froth part back as you add your hot milk to your beverage of choice. Stir. 

Spoon froth on the top of your beverage.

Warm hands.

Sip.

Enjoy!

How to: Pre-bake a Pie Crust

Ever made a recipe that called to " pre-bake your crust" and you made the crust, put it in the pan, baked it, and it slide down the side of the pie pan into the bottom.
So, you maybe cussed a little, then sprinkled it with cinnamon and sugar and baked it the rest of the way,  ate it to heal your ego, bought a pre-made crust and used it instead?

No?

Errrrrr..... me either?

Now... in case you need to pre-bake a crust, here's the super easy way to do it correctly!

How To: Pre-Bake a Pie Crust

Lay your pie crust in your pie plate and form the crust edge.

Lay a large piece of heavy duty foil over crust and form to cover.

Bake at 450 degrees for 4 minutes.

Remove foil and bake for 2 minutes more.

Cool.

Fill with whatever your pie loving heart desires!!

How To: Hosting a Holiday Cookie Exchange

I have hosted a Cookie Exchange for the last 16 years.

It's been a lot of fun and has totally evolved throughout the years.

When I started, we all had little kids and I had it with my stay-at-home-mom friends.

Everyone would come to my house, and I would have breakfast food, the kids would play and the moms would have coffee and chat.

As the kids got older, I would still have it in the morning, some would be in pre-school/grade school and some were home.  People that came could make with at some point, with or without their kids.

Now, many of my friends have gone back to work, we all have school aged kids or our kids are out of school and we just want to go OUT.

So, for the last few years I have had my Cookie Exchange at my Sister-in-Law (to be)'s Wine Store.

Yes. Wine + Cookies= HAPPY WOMEN

Every year I have good intentions of taking photos of the event, and every year, I start having fun and completely forget.

I did manage to find a couple of photos from last year, and incorporated some cute ways to package cookies for gifts or an exchange.

Links to the yumminess, too!!

So, I will type up here on this post what I do to organize the event, so maybe you and your friends can have one, too!

Hosting your own Holiday Cookie Exchange

The month of December always fills up fast for everyone.  I always try to get my date on the calendar by mid-November.

Since the invention of facebook, I typically do a facebook event, almost all of my friends have facebook, and the one that doesn't, well it just gives me an excuse to chat with her on the phone! *smile*

I always try to select my date as close to Christmas as possible, my exchange typically falls somewhere between the 18th and the 21st.  That way guests have goodies for their family and friends during the holidays.

Each guest RSVP's with what cookie/candy they plan to bring.  I try REALLY hard to not get duplicates, or "all chocolate" or too much mint, or too many things with nuts.

Many of the people that come only bake for this, and when they return home with all of their goodies, I don't want their platter of treats to be all brown because everything is chocolate. *wink*

I want there to be a nice assortment of flavors and colors for everyone's cookie platters.

So, it's a first come first serve thing.  If you planned on making peanut butter kisses, and someone else signs up first, you go back to the drawing board and find something else.

The number of people changes every year.  Some years I have had as many as 15 people, other years there are only 8.  Whatever number of people in attendance there are, that's how many dozen cookies you will bring of your cookie.

Caramel, Toffee and Pecan Fudge boxed with a bow

For example, there are 10 of us coming, myself included, and  I am making sugar cookies, I bring 9 dozen of my cookie to the party.  Friend A brings peanut butter kisses, 9 dozen, friend B is bringing fudge,  9 dozen pieces, and so on.

Great Aunt Vern's Sugar Cookies in a tin

Everyone brings their candy/cookie wrapped/boxed with one dozen per package.  Some place theirs in bags, some boxes, some on plates and some in tins.  Whatever they decide.  On their packages, they attach their recipe for their baked good inside.

gift or bring candies like Peanut Brittle in mason jars with ribbon attached

Up-Cycled Pringles cans I made with recipe attached for my exchange last year

Turtle Bark in a tin

Everyone brings their own baked good (all 9 dozen) in a big box or basket.  I line them up, and at the end of the evening everyone takes one package from each guest (except themselves) and then leaves with 9 dozen different kinds of cookies, and all they did was make one kind.

See?

Everyone is welcome to bring an appetizer to share, and we sip wine and relax.  

Who doesn't need to relax a little by the middle of December??!!

One other fun thing we added a few years back, is we do a gift exchange.

Everyone brings a wrapped gift (dollar amount is about $15) and we place them on a table.  

We draw numbers and start at 1 and that person opens a gift.

Person number 2 can either steal the gift from the person who opened it, or open their own.

If there are 10 people, we play from 1 up to 10 and back down to 1 so everyone gets a chance to steal.

But the gift can only be stolen twice.

It's a lot of laughs!

Toni got a great HUSKER bag...too bad she's a huge Iowa State fan! Ha!

It's a fun activity, and there always seems to be something new and creative!

Fun to shop for , too!! 

So in a nutshell that is how I do my cookie exchange.

I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I enjoy hosting it!

girlfriends cookie exchange 2012

Homemade "Frosty Paws" - 'Ice Cream' for your dog

My dogs LOVE ice cream

Like, our boxer... he won't mooch when you're eating a steak, but he hears the CRACK of the lid coming off of the ice cream bucket and he's drooling on your foot.

Whenever I take him to the vet, we stop at Mickey D's for a cone.

Yes, he is spoiled.

When my friend, Candi, over at The Devilish Dish, made these for her pooch a month ago, I knew I would be making them for Sully, for his birthday!

Devilish Dish Blog

Devilish Dish Facebook Page

Gabby is Sully's sister, and don't let her size fool you, she rules the roost.

She attended the "party" and loved the frosty paws as much as Sully Did.

This is the direct link to The Devilish Dish Recipe, I changed mine up a bit for what I had on hand, as she states, you can make them how she did or switch it up.

I didn't have banana, but had baby food carrots in my pantry... even though my youngest are almost 11, yea, don't ask.

Homemade Frosty Paws - Ice Cream for your dog

32 ounces of plain yogurt

1 jar of baby food carrots (or baby food meat or one mashed banana)

2-3 Tablespoons of Honey

2-3 Tablespoons of Peanut Butter

Combine the ingredients until smooth. I made mine a little sweeter, because he's a "sweets dog"-- I used 3 T of peanut butter and honey.

Pour into muffin tins, or cupcake liners.  I used the silicone ones, per Candi's suggestion, and they were AWESOME!

Freeze and let the doggies enjoy!

Makes about 12.

How to Make: Homemade Modge Podge

I love doing crafts with my kids.  

Sometimes a craft calls for an item that you have to run to the hobby store to buy, 

and you don't even need to!!

I made labels for my Homemade Sugar Scrubs that I made in jelly jars, and instead of spending more money, I just made my own Modge Podge!

Some jars had modge podge over circle labels placed on scrapbook paper, others had them on the jar itself.

Homemade Modge Podge

white glue

water

 jar with lid

Mix equal parts of glue and water and place in jar with lid, give it a good shake!

It's nice because you can make as little or as much as you want!

Banana "Botox" Mask

I saw this on Pinterest last winter.

I, of course, thought "this cannot be true?"

This was something that was shown by Dr. Oz in 2010.

When I read the reviews, there were a couple of people who REALLY noticed a difference, and a few who just said that their skin felt softer.

One night I decided to give it a go, I had some ripe bananas and all of the rest, so I figured it couldn't hurt right?

Banana "Botox" Mask

as seen on pinterest and Dr. Oz

1/2 ripe banana, mashed

1/4 cup plain yogurt

1 teaspoon honey

Combine the ingredients and apply to face and leave on for 15 minutes and wash off.

It's mentioned on Dr. Oz's article that doing a warm washcloth over the top helps.

I have done it both ways, and didn't see much of a difference.

(it tastes great, by the way!)

I will tell you that I didn't look 15 years younger, but it is a nice mask.  My skin felt somewhat tighter, and way softer.  It lasts for a couple of days.

I am curious to see if any of you have ever tried this?

Or any other kitchen spa mask that you like?

Please let me know!!

Teacher Gift - "Welcome Summer -- Soak it Up!"

Last year for the kids' teachers and teacher aids I made super cute 

Boxes of Sunshine

I knew they would be hard to beat!

But I had this cute idea while I was out shopping one day.

When I think summertime I think of sitting by the water and sipping lemonade to keep cool.

thus, this idea was born!

Here they are, all lined up!

I bought each teacher a different beach towel, these large bottles of lemon and lime aids to match, 

and found these colorful flexible straws.

I made this up from a google image, and tweeked it in Microsoft Publisher.

I rolled the towels, looped some tulle through holes punched on either side of the car, and tied it all together.

Ta-Da!! Who couldn't use this??

Hope they enjoy them!!

College Care Package - Valentine Style

When I posted the photo of my

50th Birthday Basket 

a girlfriend of mine that has twins in college emailed me and asked if I would like to make one for her

 son for Valentine's Day....

Well, OF COURSE!!

all boxed up

I wanted to make it look cute, so I thought and thought about what to do for a 

BOY for VALENTINE'S DAY?

I decided that spelling out HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY TROY and getting items that complimented the letters of each word that a college kid would enjoy?

done.

"HAPPY"

H- hot cocoa, A-airheads, P- pizza combos and pringles, P- peanut butter, Y- yellow highlighters

"VALENTINES"

V- veggie soup

 A- animal crackers

L- laundry money (2 rolls of quarters)

E- 5 hour energy

N- nacho cheese

T- toothbrush and toothpaste

I- iTunes giftcard

N-  salted nutroll

E- Eileen's Cookies (popular Omaha cookie, frosted valentine cookies in a heart tin)

S- sunflower seeds

"DAY"

D- doritos, A- advil, Y- york peppermint patty

"TROY"

T- tide pods, R- razors, O- onions (funyuns) Y- yahtzee cards

the whole haul

a couple of red plastic stackable "crates" held it all inside the box

this was on top of the tissue, right inside the box

 A little diagram of the box's contents!!

Mom said he LOVED it!!